Which river flows out of Lake Tahoe?

The Truckee River flows out of Lake Tahoe.

The Truckee begins at Lake Tahoe's northwestern shore and runs northeast through California and Nevada. It passes through the communities of Tahoe City, Truckee and Reno before ending in Pyramid Lake, a terminal lake in Nevada's Great Basin.

Lake Tahoe has many streams flowing into it, but the Truckee is its sole natural surface outlet. This makes the river an important part of the lake's water balance and connects the Sierra Nevada lake to a separate desert-basin drainage system. Dams and water diversions now regulate parts of the river for irrigation, municipal supply and flood control.

The American, Walker and Carson rivers are nearby western U.S. waterways, but none is Lake Tahoe's outlet. The Truckee also should not be confused with the Truckee River's destination: Pyramid Lake receives its water but does not drain onward to the ocean. Because Pyramid Lake is endorheic, its water leaves mainly through evaporation.